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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23767189">Night Terrors</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salty_Libra/pseuds/Salty_Libra'>Salty_Libra</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Nightmares</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:27:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>718</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23767189</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salty_Libra/pseuds/Salty_Libra</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Even killers get nightmares.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arackniss/Sir Pentious (Hazbin Hotel)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>169</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Night Terrors</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Author's note: 100% upfront honesty: I've never written any sort of fanfiction before. It's not really my shtick as a writer partially because I've never been very comfortable writing for characters who are not my own. But, I really love this particular ship (which is really abnormal for me, normally I don't like any ships) and I saw one of its two most prominent artists asking for some fics of it...so I gave it a shot. This one's for you Jay (@Jayd3nKnight on Twitter). </p>
<p>As you can see, it is not very long, but this was more of a "test the waters" type thing so hopefully if I follow it up with more, you'll get more than 718 words out of me. Story prompts are welcome suggestions!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Arackniss dropped to his knees, his weapons, six handguns and revolvers, tumbling from his hands and clattering to the pavement. A pool of viscous blood was beginning to grow around him from the bodies he had piled up, crimson accented by brass bullet casing. </p>
<p>He had been ambushed by a rival mob. His father's enemies. Spiders down here in Hell, just like him. They outnumbered him, a dozen to one, and he had killed them all without a moment of hesitation. A well-oiled killing machine, a marksman with few equals and fewer betters. Smoke still drifted from the barrels of his guns, the smell of gunpowder thick in the air.</p>
<p>They'd come after him. They had started the fight. This couldn't be his fault.</p>
<p>Could it?</p>
<p><em>"You're evil."</em> The spider looked up to see one of his victims crawling towards him, still clinging on to life, still choking on blood, his voice wet and gurgling.</p>
<p>"I'm not evil. You started it."</p>
<p>
  <em>"You're a murderer"</em>
</p>
<p>"Stop it. Stop talking." Arackniss put his hands over his ears, trying to block out the voice, but it didn't seem to do anything.</p>
<p>
  <em>"You're a monster."</em>
</p>
<p>"I'M NOT A MONSTER." He yelled, the words echoing in the empty street. </p>
<p>"You're a goddamn disappointment is what you are."</p>
<p>He flipped around to see the looming shadow of his father, four densely muscular arms crossed in distaste.</p>
<p>"Look at you, sniveling and whining over a few dropped bodies." He shook his head. "You're a killer. An assassin. If you break down at the first sight of blood, then what's the fuckin point of you? Useless."</p>
<p>"Pops, I-" Arackniss' words hung in the air as his voice choked out. </p>
<p>The mob boss rolled up his sleeves and began slowly walking towards his son. "Maybe a few more bruises will remind you where you come from, boy."</p>
<p>Arackniss tried to get up, to run, to fight, to protect himself somehow, but his legs continued to fail him, leaving him lying on the ground as his father's heavy footsteps drew closer. Out of options, he turned and raised his spindly arms to shield himself from the imminent abuse. As he saw the burly spider winding up for his first blow, a voice ripped through the world and the dream collapsed around him. </p>
<p>---</p>
<p>"Niss! Wake up!"</p>
<p>Arackniss' eyes flew open to find the dim interior of Pentious' bedroom. His pulse was still racing, his breath felt short. His hair felt slightly damp with sweat. The wind-up clock on the bedside table read 2:56 A.M. </p>
<p>"Another nightmare?"</p>
<p>He flipped over onto his back to look back at Pent, who was sitting up in bed looking down at him, his slightly luminous red eyes currently forming an expression somewhere between concern and curiosity. Niss nodded slightly, not saying anything. </p>
<p>The snake reached over to Niss' side of the bed, running a hand through his messy hair. </p>
<p>"Same one as last time?"</p>
<p>Another nod.</p>
<p>Niss sat up and silently motioned towards a glass on Pent's bedside table. Pent nodded, leaned over to the table and. grabbed the half-drained glass of water and handed it to Niss, who downed the remainder of the cup in one long swig before handing it back with the quietest "thank you" Pent had ever heard before lying back down, staring tiredly at the scaled ceiling above. </p>
<p>Pent laid down and wrapped his arms around the spider's small frame, pulled him close and then rolled onto his back so that Niss was on top of him, slowly rising and falling with each inhale and exhale.</p>
<p>Niss felt Pent run his fingers across his back, tracing the lines of the various scars he'd collected over the years. It was another part of their routine - there was something oddly calming to him about it. Maybe it was the vulnerability of it, the laying bare of his scars, or maybe it was as simple as just the feeling of patterns being softly outlined on his back. He tried not to read too much into his own psychology. </p>
<p>A few minutes later, Pent heard faint snoring, the only way he could tell when Niss was actually asleep and not simply pretending to be. Satisfied, he pulled the blanket back up, closed his own eyes and drifted back off to sleep.</p>
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